Nothing says camping quite like a campfire.
In fact, according to the 2017 American Camping Report, 81% of campers said that sitting around the campfire was one of their favorite nighttime activities while camping.
Even when we’re not camping, my family and I love to go to our backyard and use our campfire ring (this is the one we use if you’re curious) and have a fire right there.
Take your experience to the next level with these 28 fun things to do while sitting around a campfire.
Table of Contents
1. GOODS AND BADS
Goods and bads can be a fantastic way to start a conversation with people of any age group.
This activity can help you to open up the doors of enjoyable communication with each other.
It’s also a perfect way to kick away boredom with ease.
Well, the rules for playing this game are quite simple.
In this game, every person who is sitting around the campfire has to take part.
They have to share one bad and one good thing that happened in his or her life this year.
At the end of the game, you’ll be amazed after seeing how much surprises were there in everyone’s life you were unaware of.
2. TRUTH OR DARE
Although Truth and Dare is an old game, it’s still fun to play.
This game has always been a staple at friends and family gatherings, especially around a campfire.
The possibilities with truth and dare games are always endless.
There are no specific rules for this game, but let’s go over the basics.
- One person asks another “Truth or dare?”
- The person responds with one answer.
- If “Truth,” you ask a silly or embarrassing question they must answer.
- If “Dare,” you tell them to do something silly or embarrassing.
- Go to the next person.
This game can be a better opportunity to know more truths about your friends or to do some silly activities.
By this, you can collect some more good memories together.
Pro-tip: Know the people you’re with.
Some people like to play this with crazy truths and dares.
Don’t do anything that makes others uncomfortable.
3. CHANGE THE COLOR OF YOUR FIRE
If you’re looking for an activity that can surprise everyone else, then changing the color of your fire is the way to go.
For families with young kids, this activity makes you feel like the coolest parent in the world.
But how to make this happen?
Well, you can get fire colorant bags for this purpose like this one.
Throwing fire colorant bag into the fire gives you a quick burst of bright and glowing colorful flames for a longer period of time.
The colors mesmerize kids and adults alike.
Give it a shot and watch the colors dance!
4. SING YOUR FAVORITE CAMPFIRE SONGS
Everyone has some favorite campfire songs, and we remember most of the lyrics of these songs.
If you have a lively and fun-loving group during your camping, then singing can be a great way to bond while sitting around a campfire.
You don’t need a guitar or ukulele to enjoy singing around the campfire.
You can always bring a portable speaker (my wife uses this COMISO one because it’s waterproof and has a long battery life).
Try to sing songs that your group likes and knows the words to.
My family is big into music, so it’s really common at our summer camping trips to sing and jam all night long. (Look for our best campfire songs COMING SOON).
5. PLAY “FIVE DAILY FACTS”
Although this game looks straightforward, it turns into something hard as the game progresses. In this game, everyone starts by telling any of the five facts about their day.
These can be anything.
For example, one person may say:
- Today, I ate pizza.
- I went swimming.
- I played at the park.
- I took a nap.
- I went on a date.
The facts can be normal or silly according to the type of people you have around.
After everyone has told their five facts of the day the first person will start the turn again.
Here’s the twist: In the second round, you can’t repeat any of your previous facts.
As you play more and more, you need to avoid repeating the same facts.
It makes you dig deep about your day or life and get to know each other better.
The primary goal of the game is to see how much facts a person can remember as you are going down the line.
6. NAME THAT TUNE
This can be an exciting game for the music lovers actually, but I can assure you that every participant enjoys playing this game.
This version of “Name that Tune” gets more fun as the night wears on.
Everyone can be a part of the game.
Split all of the participants into two teams.
Choose a player from the opposing team and tell him or her the title of a song.
Now that person has to get their team to guess the tune by whistling or humming.
The only rule is that they can’t sing any words.
I find this game is most fun when you pick really random or cheesy songs to do.
Here are some of my family’s favorite suggestions:
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Can’t Touch This
- Country Roads, Take Me Home
- Take on Me
- Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
- My Heart Will Go on
- ABC (Jackson 5 version)
7. ONCE THERE WAS A SKUNK
While I hope you never actually run into a skunk while camping, this game is a lot of fun to play.
It’s similar to madlibs and goes to some odd and funny places with the right group of people.
The story starts with “Once there was a skunk who…”
The next person adds to the story starting with the word “Fortunately…”.
After they go, they another person to add to it with the word “Unfortunately…”
Here’s a quick example:
- Once there was a skunk who went to the big city.
- Fortunately, he had plans to audition for a musical.
- Unfortunately, he couldn’t sing to save his life.
- Fortunately, he found someone to take singing lessons from.
- Unfortunately, whenever he hit a high note he sprayed his teacher.
- Fortunately, his teacher had no sense of smell.
- Unfortunately, the guys running his audition didn’t.
CONCLUSION
There are a lot of fun things you can do while sitting around a campfire, and we hope you enjoyed our quick list of 7 fun things to try.
There are a lot more out there, but these are easy to do.
Now get out there and enjoy the fresh air!
If you enjoyed reading this article, you may also enjoy reading 12 things to bring camping in a tent.
Tell Funny Stories
Funny Stories are a great way to bond over a campfire.
There are a lot of great ones out there, but I listed a few of my favorites at the link here.
Lean into the story to make it more interesting and fun.
Do silly voices, alter your volume, and the story will start to tell itself.
Like telling stories? Check out these 4 funny campfire stories for the family.
Eat S’Mores
It may seem obvious, but is there really anything better to do than eat S’mores around a campfire.
All you need is a stick for roasting marshmallows, marshmallows, a bit of chocolate, and graham crackers.
As a new twist on the classic campfire dessert, use cookie crackers instead of graham crackers.
Or add in chocolate with nuts (or cinnamon-dusted crackers).
Play Cards
If you have a table between you or a picnic table near the fire, playing cards is a great way to pass the time.
If it’s really dark, it may be hard to see them, but playing them is perfect for that moment before the sunsets.
From simple games like War to fun team games like Euchre, playing cards is sure to be a great time.
Burn Something Cool (Safely)
Everyone in my family is a bit of what we call a “firebug.”
They like to poke at fires and put things in them to watch them burn.
I’ll admit it’s pretty fun to see how different items burn, but you need to do so safely.
Anything made with wood (and unpainted) is usually safe, but make sure it fits in your fire pit.
I have a fun memory of burning a small wooden wishing well and how cool it looked.
Play Flashlight Tag
Maybe this one is less a game for grownups and more kids, but it’s still fun.
Flashlight tag is just like regular tag, but you tag each other by shining a light on one another.
Just make sure you establish clear boundaries away from the campfire.
Dad Joke Central
Maybe it’s just my family, but we love Dad Jokes (myself more than the rest of them).
When some of our friends get together, we have a little competition to see who comes up with the worst Dad Jokes.
I don’t always win, but even if I don’t, I come away with some hilarious puns.
Here’s my go-to:
I went to buy a camouflage tent the other day.
I couldn’t find any.
Two Truths And A Lie
Two Truths And A Lie is a great game to play as you get to know each other.
The game is played by one person telling two truths and a lie about themselves.
The rest of the group has to guess which one is the lie.
Here’s an example I often use for myself:
- I have two tubas in my house.
- I used to play Dungeons and Dragons in high school.
- And I have 7 brothers and sisters.
Which one is the lie?
Despite my nerd status, I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons.
The game is more fun if all the claims are just credible enough to work and just incredible enough to be believed.
Never Have I Ever
This is a silly game where you get to know each other.
It’s also a mostly adult game; it can get pretty risque, pretty quick.
One person says something ridiculous with the phrase, “Never have I ever…”
The rest of the group responds by raising their hand if they also have not done the thing.
It’s more fun if you make things funny (or more adult depending on your group).
Here’s an example (that’s safe for work!):
Never have I ever gotten a speeding ticket.
Play Tenzi
Tenzi is a fast-paced, simple game with ten dice.
You roll to get all 10 of one number in a race against the other players.
It’s surprisingly fun!
There are also a ton of twists and variations on the game.
Tenzi is a go-to for our family when camping and around a bonfire.
Charades
Charades is another classic game for camping fun.
Players split into teams.
One person on a team gets a word, movie, act, or item written down on a piece of paper.
Without saying anything, they must use their actions to help their teammates guess the target word.
Keep track of points to see which team knows each other better.
20 Questions
20 questions is simple in execution but fun in play.
One person thinks of something, and the rest of the group has only 20 questions (yes or no questions) to figure out what it is.
Telephone
To play telephone, one person thinks of a funny phrase.
They whisper it to one person in the group, who whispers it to the next.
By the end of the line, the phrase is often changed to be something ridiculous.
The sillier and more complex the phrase, the better it’ll be.
Also, if there are more people in your group, you’ll end up with a more changed phrase.
Here’s one to consider:
The hairy blue monkey made many memories while eating spicy bananas on Saturday.
The Alphabet Game (I Went To Market)
I usually play this as a car game, but it works well as a campfire game, especially with kids.
One person starts the game by saying:
I went to the market and bought an Apple.
The next person has to repeat the phrase and add another object on the next letter.
I went to the market and bought an Apple and a Banana.
The next person would repeat this and add an object from the market or store with a C.
Continue on and see how far you can get.
I Spy
The classic I Spy is always good, especially when you’re in the outdoors and see all the cool things outside.
Pick something interesting and say:
I Spy with my little eye, something…
Then you say the color of the thing.
21
21 is a drinking game (so only for adults).
There are many variants of the game, but this is the one that seems to be the most common.
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia page for the game.
(Yes, there’s a Wiki page on this drinking game.)
Cheesy Pickup Lines
Along the same lines of Dad Jokes, pitching cheesy pickup lines is sure to cause a lot of cracking up.
See if you can make the others in your group laugh.
Here are a few of my faves:
- Do you like raisins? How do you feel about a date?
- If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put “I” and “U” together.
- Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?
Winking Assassin
Winking Assassin is a sneaky group game to play while you’re talking and chilling out.
One person is the Godfather. Every else closes their eyes.
The Godfather taps one person on the shoulder, indicating they’re the Winking Assassin.
Everyone opens their eyes and talks and does fun stuff.
The Winking Assassin needs to wink at one person at a time discreetly.
When they do, the person who received the wink needs to dramatically “die” a couple of minutes later.
When this happens, the group (minus the dead people and Godfather) need to have a vote to see if they can eliminate the Assassin.
The majority rules; if there is no consensus or over half of the alive people who agree, they can’t take a guess that round.
Repeat until you either find the Assassin or kill everyone off.
Ladder Ball
Ladder Ball is a tossing game where you throw two balls tied together to wrap around this three rung ladder-looking target.
It’s cheap and provides hours of fun.
With enough light by the campfire, this game is fine to play even when it gets dark.
Corn Hole
Here’s another tossing game (here’s one with bean bags).
In the Midwest and Michigan in particular, we play corn hole all the time.
This one is a little tough to play in the dark, but if it’s a clear night and you have a big fire, you should be just fine.
Mafia/Werewolf
Mafia/Werewolf is like Winking Assassin but a bit more involved.
It’s a lot of fun to play, but you definitely need someone who understands the game well.
Check out the directions on Instructable for more details.
Would You Rather?
Like Two Truths and a Lie, Would You Rather? is a questioning game where you have to decide between two different bad scenarios.
If you get the right scenarios, some of them result in some pretty funny answers.
Parade has a massive list of 250 for you to check out.